AppMaster Mobile App Development Comes to Belize!

Forty-five (45) Belizean high school students took part in BrightPath Foundation’s AppMaster Mobile App Development Workshop this past week in Belize City, Belize, as part of the Public Utilities Commission of Belize’s 2014 Innovation Programme.

BrightPath’s mobile application development workshop took place at the Ramada Belize City Princess Hotel, where the 45 young mobile app developers-to-be gathered from all over the country. Over the past 5 days, these bright young participants learned about brainstorming collaboratively and understanding the concept of viability, practicality, utility and connectivity.

“For Belize, as for the wider Caribbean, the investment in the digital economy must be tied to our vision for our future. That future is based on the natural creativity of our people, our collective faith and our proven capacity to compete on the world stage,” stated Bevil Wooding, BrightPath Foundation Executive Director and lead Facilitator at the workshop’s Opening ceremony.

The enthusiastic young participants embraced the opportunity presented to them to create their futures – becoming content creators instead of merely content consumers – by working in groups to invent mobile app ideas and put those ideas into action. BrightPath Facilitators Stephen Lee and Emmanuel Simon, along with Wooding, led the participants through their mobile app journey during the 5-day workshop. From gathering content and creating graphics to presenting working prototypes, the 45 young AppMasters created their apps from the ground up!

“There is no reason the next Google can’t be started in Belize,” said Dr. Cardinal Warde, founder of the Caribbean Science Foundation. With the knowledge of how to turn their innovative ideas into mobile applications that can benefit their country and users internationally, the workshop participants have been exposed to a whole new world of possibilities over the past 5 days.

BrightPath Foundation’s AppMaster mobile app development workshop was created by Wooding and his team of executive-level volunteer facilitators with a special focus on using values-based technology education training to create new social and economic opportunities for the communities they serve. Over 900 young persons have already been given their first exposure to the major global digital industry that is mobile application development, with the 45 Belizean students now contributing to that group!

Wooding stated his hopes for the outcome of this week-long programme, saying: “By the end of the week, I trust that those participants who have signed up will become part of that growing global army, that not only shape and transform life here in Belize and across the Caribbean, but who can change the world.”

The workshop, which officially launches the Public Utilities Commission of Belize’s Innovation Programme 2014, culminated on Friday the 22nd of August 2014 with the bright young AppMasters presentations of their mobile applications, viewed publicly live on Wave Radio and Wave TV.